OCTOBER 2019 PCWorld 85cards. Both AMD’s blower-style graphics
cards and Nvidia’s Founders Edition models
stick to standard length dual-slot dimen-
sions, meaning they should fit in the vast
majority of PCs. And if you’re a water-cooling
enthusiast, the universal availability of
reference designs means that you can more
easily find custom waterblocks for them.
Finding waterblocks for video cards with
custom PCBs is much more hit-or-miss.
Finally, reference graphics cards usually
lack extra features you can find in custom
models, such as customizable RGB LED
lighting and dual-BIOS switches.
CUSTOM GRAPHICS CARDS:
PROS AND CONS
Most custom graphics cards use axial fan
designs that expel the hot air generated by
your GPU back into your case, which is then
whisked out of your system by your case fans.
(In general, you’ll want at least two case fans
in your PC if you’re gaming: one intake, one
exhaust.) That’s a good thing! As explained in
the last section, axial coolers generally run
cooler than blower-style fans, and they’re
usually quieter too.
Cooler temperatures let your graphics
card’s GPU sustain higher clock speeds forThe Asus ROG Strix 1660 Ti spares no expense on its cooler design.